Infertility is an increasingly common disease afflicting modern societies. During the 20th century and into the 21st century, with increasing affluence and longer lifespans, today's women have tended to marry later in life than previous generations. However, studies have determined that fertility declines with increasing age. As these is women decide to have children and attempt to become pregnant, they discover that they often have difficulties becoming pregnant. A number of these women will also seek medical care to assist their efforts in successfully becoming pregnant. This trend of the growing prevalence infertility is being reinforced by intrinsic biological shifts that occur with increasing maternal age, including changes in menstrual cycle, ovulation, uterine receptivity, and immunological changes. Currently utilized modes of therapy range from pharmacologic treatments, such as clomiphene citrate and GnRH injections, to more invasive therapies such at extraction of ova from the ovaries and in vitro fertilization. However, despite these treatment strategies, disorders of impaired fertility remain a major clinical problem.
As such, there continues to be an interest in the development of new protocol options for treating fertility conditions.
Relevant Literature
Mackey et at., Pregnancy following hysterosalpingography with oil and water soluble dye. Fertility and Sterility 1971; 22:504-507; Schwabe et al., Hysterosalpingography with oil contrast medium enhances fertility in patients with infertility of unknown etiology. Fertility and Sterility 1983; 40:604-606; Willis C et al., “Cytokine production by peripheral blood monocytes during the normal human ovulatory menstrual cycle.” Human Reproduction 2003; 18:1173-1178; Piccinni et al., “Role of hormone-controlled T-cell cytokines in the maintenance of pregnancy.” Biochemical Society Transactions 2000; 28:212-215; Wander et al., “The ratio of dietary (n-6) to (n-3) fatty acids influences immune system function, eicosanoid metabolism, lipid peroxidation and vitamin E status in aged dogs.” Journal of Nutrition 1997; 127:1198-1205; Liu J, et al. “Isolation of linoleic acid as an estrogenic compound from the fruits of Vitex agnus-castus L. (chaste-berry).” Phytomedicine 2004; 11(1):18-23; Westphal et al. “A nutritional supplement for improving fertility in women: a pilot study.” Journal of Reproductive Medicine 2004; 49(4):289-93.
See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,852,757; 6,762,313; 6,756,405; 6,743,931; 6,610,868; 6,608,222; 6,524,527; 6,440,931; 6,420,577; 6,410,761; 6,409,649; 6,395,782; 6,333,353; 6,319,950; 6,300,374; 6,296,861; 6,242,621; 6,153,774; 5,892,074; 5,443,844; 4,529,551; and 4,281,064.